.israelexpandedits air assault, bombing the prime minister's compound and other official buildings. the assault also killed a hamas commander. in israel troops are gathering at the border where many roads into gaza are closed. the military is ready for a ground assault with just an hour's notice, and the u.s. positioned the war ship "iwo jima" nearby but the location is classified. the egyptian prime minister visited gaza yesterday and prepared to mediate a truce. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon is expected to visit next week. the widening scope of the assault sparking fears of a violent new chapter in the arab israeli conflict. forces are launching rockets back and forth in the gaza strip and israel. yesterday one missile was aimed right at jerusalem. nbc news foreign correspondent is live for us in gaza. that jerusalem angle, that had not been seen for quite some time. let's get to what's happening right now around you. >> good morning, alex. yeah, we can -- let me bring you up to date on the air strikes here. according to palestinian health officials the death toll from israe

know you've just listened to a white house briefing on two big stories. let's talkaboutisraelfirst.>> reporter: well you're right. we did hear from senior white house officials. aboard air force one the president on his way to southeast asia for a historic trip there. but these activities are really unfolding in israel and the gaza strip is dominating attention worldwide. the president spoke again with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he has spoken with him each day before this crisis began to unfold. they talked about the iron dome program, the anti-rocket defense that is so far from what we can tell effectively protecting israel from those rocket strikes out of the gaza strip. the president has also spoken with the new egyptian president, mohammed mersi and turkish prime minister. they have relations with has mass according to the senior official they were encouraged to engage hamas to get them to stop the rocket strikes which the official characterized as the precipitating factor in this exchange of rocket fire from israel and hamas in the gaza strip. finally pros